


Allow Me This Comfort

by lady_macgyver



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Comfort, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-30 22:11:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19412425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_macgyver/pseuds/lady_macgyver
Summary: “This is what I do Doctor, I shout and when I can’t shout anymore I cry.”





	Allow Me This Comfort

Before the Doctor, Donna had known death. She had been young when her grandmother had passed, but she had seen her through her sickness. And when her father died, he tried to keep her away from it as much as possible. He was always there, protecting her. And in the end, he had held onto her and her mother’s hand, as she sobbed next to his bedside.

Rocking gently, Donna felt her tears soak into her jeans and she let out shaky breaths. Her fingers scratched and dug into her legs. After the Sontarans – and nearly losing her grandfather – and then going to Messaline – and losing Jenny – she had asked for privacy. Somewhere the TARDIS could give her to grieve.

Curling in tighter, she fell to the side and stared blankly at the wall. Squeezing her eyes shut, she rubbed them, her lashes clumping together. Her cheeks tingled from where the tears had trailed and she swallowed against a scratchy throat.

Opening her eyes, Donna pressed her face into one of the pillows against the floor. After walking blindly through the halls, the TARDIS had eased her down a hallway and into a room covered in pillows and soft blankets. The room had a muted amber glow and she felt the tension release from her shoulders, but unable to stop sobbing.

Letting out a hiccough, she uncurled her legs and wrapped her arms around a pillow. A soft hum soothed her thoughts and she stroked her fingers against one of the walls. Swallowing again, she turned and then started, the Doctor sitting cross-legged on the other side of the room.

“Donna,” he breathed, and crawled toward her, lying next to her. Opening his arms to her, he waited patiently as she first shook and then wrapped herself into his embrace. Feeling her tears on his neck, he murmured softly into her hair, as she tangled her fingers into his shirt.

“H-how did you find me?” she rasped out between hiccups, nuzzling into his neck.

“TARDIS,” he told her simply, kissing her hair. “She let me know you were in pain and waited before showing me where you were.” Shifting slightly, he brushed her hair to the side, letting her burrow into his embrace as much as she could. Looking around, he sighed as the lights began to dim even more.

“I don’t like when you cry,” he whispered. He felt her start and he tightened his hold on her. “And you seem to be crying an awful lot around me.”

Lifting her head, Donna looked down at the Doctor and blinked. His face was twisted in concern and he brought his hand up to her hair, brushing it behind her ears. Sniffling, she took a deep, shaky breath and sucked in her lower lip.

“I knew getting into this, anything could happen. There would be good time and bad times; that life doesn’t stop just because I decided to travel with you. I’m going to get sad, and because of that, I’m going to cry.” Clearing her throat, she dipped her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “This is what I _do_ Doctor, I shout and when I can’t shout anymore I cry.”

Hearing her voice taper at the end, he lifted himself up onto his elbows, he mouth in a straight line. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“No, no it doesn’t but I’m not asking you to _like_ it, I’m asking you to _accept_ it.”

Sitting up properly, he searched her face, tinged red from her tears. Taking her head in his hands, he brushed the tears from her cheeks and pressed his lips against her skin. Hearing her gasp, he pulled back and licked his lips.

“It may take awhile,” he told her, and kissed her cheeks, nuzzling against her. Feeling her mouth curve into a smile, the Doctor smoothed his palms down to her shoulders and down her arms. “But I will, I promise.”


End file.
